Telescopic stick for folding umbrella



March 22, 1960 M. NORKIN TELESCOPIC STICK FOR FOLDING UMBRELLA Filed Feb. 15, 1957 FIGJ IN VEN TOR. MORR IS NORK IN y m 232.. k

rplll'i AT TORNEXS TELESCGPEQ STHCK FOR FOLDING UMBRELLA Morris Norkin, New York, N.Y., assignor to Marvel Umbrelia idrames, Inc, a corporation of New York Application February 15, 1957, Serial No.-640,452

3 Claims. (Cl. 135-25) This invention relates to umbrellas, especially folding umbrellas, and more particularly to a telescopic stick therefor.

Folding umbrellas usually employ a telecopic umbrella stick which permits collapse of the closed umbrella to approximately half its length. It is desirable to provide for three different lengths of stick. in one, the stick is telescoped. In another, the stick is fully extended. In a third position, the extended stick is slightly shortened to permit holding of the tips of the umbrella within a rim or annular channel forming a part of the 2 handle of the umbrella. When the stick is fully extended, it is important to prevent relative rotation as well as relative axial movement of the outer and inner members of the stick.

The primary object of the present invention is to generally improve folding umbrellas. A more particular object is to improve telescopic umbrella sticks. A still further object is to provide an improved telescopic umbrella stick which will fulfill the foregoing requirements.

To accomplish the foregoing general objects, and other more specific objects which will hereinafter appear, my invention resides in the umbrella stick elements and their relation one to another, as are hereinafter more particularly described in the following specification. The specification is accompanied by a drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section through a folding umbrella embodying features of my invention, with the umbrella in folded or telescoped condition;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section showing the stick in nearly but not fully extended condition;

1 Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section taken in a plane at'right angles to the plane of Fig. 2, but showing thestick-in fully extended condition; and

Figs. 4 and 5 are explanatory of details.

Referring to the drawing, Fig. 1 shows a ladies folding umbrella. It is of the general type illustrated in U.S. Patent No. 2,510,597, granted June '6, 1950 to Edward Okun, but the ribs of the present umbrella-are of the solid type much as shown in his earlier-Patent No. 2,068,067 granted January-l9, 1937.

The umbrella comprises a telescopic tubular metal stick made up of an outer upper member 12, andan inner lower member 14. The umbrella further comprises folding ribs each made up of an upper memberie pivoted to the stick at 18, and a lower member 26 articulated to the upper member'by a pivotal connection 22. The ribs terminate in ornamental tips '24. The pivot may be part of a conventional ring of wire, held in part 25, which is radially slottedtoreceive the ribs.

When the umbrella-is opened, the ribs are held outby means of spreaders 26. These are pivotally connected to the ribs at their upper ends 2.8, and are pivotally connected at to a runner 32. In the present case, they are made of round wire, with flattened ends. The fabric of the umbrella is indicated in broken lines at 34, this being made up of triangles in the usual fashion, with 2,929,388 Patented Mar. 22, 1960 the apex secured to the upper end of the stick at 36, and the ends of the base secured to the tips 24, as by means of stitching :passing through transverse holes 38.

The umbrella stick is shown in telescoped condition in Fig. 1, with the elbows 40 of the folded ribs received within a rim 42 or in a channel 44 formed in the handle 46 of the umbrella. The handle is threaded to receive a matingly threaded stud 48, the upper portion 50 of which 'is permanently fixed in the lower end of the inner stick member 14, as by means-of a circumferential channel 52 into which a part of member 14 is spun or compressed, as indicated at 54. V

in somewhat similar fashion, the upper end of the inner member 14 is provided with a cap 56. This is larger in diameter than member 14, in order to provide a ledge 58 which acts as a stop when extending the stick. The shank portion 69 of cap 56 is received withinmem: ber 14, and'may be. peripherally channelled to mate with a part of member 14 which is indented or spun inward in order to permanently lock the :parts strongly together.

A tubular bushing 62 (Figs. '1 and 4) is aflixed within the lower end of the outer member 12, and this bushing slidably receives the inner member 14. The bushing 62. is locked in member 12, and in the present case this is done by striking a plurality of dots 64 from member 12 into the bushing. The bushingpreferably has slots 72 which receive the dots or indentations 64.

Reverting now to the upper end of the inner member 14, this has rounded yieldable detents66 disposed somewhat lower thanthe cap 56. 3.) disposed lower than the detents 66. The lock is positive, but forms part of a bent spring 76 which urges it outward, and permits release by inward pressure.

The disposition of the parts 56, 66 and 68 is such that when the stick is extended by puliing the inner member 14 outward until the cap 56 reaches the top end of the bushing 62,-as shown in Fig.3, the spring lock 68holds the member 14 against inward or return movement.

The bushing 62 is provided with aplurality ofslots 2 distributed therearound. In the present case there are four such slots eachdisposed longitudinally, at points apart around the bushing. The yieldable detents 66 are diametrically opposed. The detents 66 expand outward into the slots 72, as shown in Fig. 5, thereby holding the stick members 12 and 14 against rotation. ifnot initially aligned with the slots, any slight accidental or intentional rotation of one member relative to the other brings the detents 66 in register with the slots 72, whereupon they immediately spring outward, thus locking the members against further rotation.

The slots 72 are preferably made long enough to serve a double purpose. More specifically, the dots are struck'into the upper ends of the slots 72, as shownin Figs. 4 and 5, and thus hold the bushing against outward movement. It is held against inward movement by having its lower end flanged outward, as indicated at 74. The lower ends of the slots '72 receive the detentsdd, as shown in Fig. 5.

When the stick is fully extended, as shown in Fig. 3, the tips 24 of the ribs are free of the rim 42 and channel 44, and the umbrella may bespread. However, if the umbrella is to be kept closed while still extended (not folded as in Fig. 1), the relation of the parts of the stick is that shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing. At this time,-the stick-is slightly shortened, so that the tips :24

are-received in channel-44. To'hold the stick in'this slightly shortened position, the bushing 62 is made of such length that the detents 66 spring outward above the upper end of the bushing.

In all, there are then three main lengths for the umbrella stick. One is the short or telescoped position shown in Fig. 1. At this time another pair of yieldable It also has a lock 63 (Fig.

hold the stick in telescoped condition. It is held against shortening by the elbows 40 of the ribs, and also by the cap 56. The detents 66 and the spring lock 68 near the upper end of the member 14 are idle at this time. A second position is that shown in Fig. 2, with the stick nearly but not fully extended. It is held against shortening by the ribs, the tips 24 of which are received within the rim 42 of the umbrella handle 46. It is held against lengthening by the yieldable detents 66, received above the bushing 62. i

In the third position, the stick is fully extended as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, and at this time, the members are held against further extension by the cap 56 which reaches the bushing 62, and are held against shortening by the lock 68 (Fig. 3) which springs outward and bears against the flange 74 of the bushing 62, or in effect, against the lower end of the outer member 12. It is only in this last position that it is important to prevent relative rotation of the members, and for this purpose, the detents 66 spring outward into the slots 72, and thus prevent rotation. In the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 2, any relative rotation is inhibited by the friction of the elbows 40 (Fig. 1) or rib tips 24 (Fig. 2) in the handle, for they tend to spring outward.

The upper detents 66 are preferably formed at the ends of a spring metal strip 80 which is bent to U-shape. The ends of the U are themselves reversely bent to form the rounded detent projections. The tubular member 14 has a pair of opposed windows through which the detents 66 project.

Similarly, the lower detents 76 are formed at the lower ends of a resilient inverted U-strip 82, and they project through opposed windows near the lower end of tubular member 14.

When the stick is extended, the umbrella is opened by sliding the runner 32 upward on the outer member 12 of the stick. The runner is slid upward until it passes and is held by a spring catch 84 (Fig. 1). The latter is fixed in position by means of a ring 86 which holds the catch 84 in position substantially as shown and described in the aforesaid Okun patents. Preferably, the upper end of the catch is offset and received in a slot 88. The entire lower portion 90 is movable inward through a relatively long slot 92. The upper part of the spring is locked against the stick by means of said ring 86, a part of which is recessed or grooved to receive the part 94 of the spring catch. The ring 86 is driven into position tightly, thus locking the parts in assembled relation.

It is believed that the construction and method of use of my improved umbrella stick, as well as the advantages thereof, will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description. It will also be apparent that while I have shown the invention in a preferred form, changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention, as sought to be defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A telescopic umbrella stick for a folding umbrella, said stick comprising a tubular outer member and a tubular inner member of smaller diameter, said members being relatively rotatable, a tubular bushing within the lower end of the outer member and slidably receiving the inner member, means to lock the bushing fixedly in said outer member, said bushing having a plurality of longitudinal slots, said slots being closed at both ends and being located inside the outer member and being concealed thereby, the upper end of said inner member having a cap of large enough diameter to engage the bushing as a Ad stop, and having one or more rounded yieldable detents disposed lower than the cap, and having a spring lock disposed lower than said detents, the disposition of the parts being such that when the stick is extended by pulling the inner member outward until the cap reaches the top of the bushing the spring lock engages the bottom of the bushing, thereby holding the members against relative axial movement, and the detents expand into the slots, thereby holding the members against relative rotation. 2. A telescopic umbrella stick for a folding umbrella,

said stick comprising a tubular outer member and a tubu-.

lar inner member of smaller diameter, said members being relatively rotatable, a tubular bushing within the lower end of the outer member and slidably receiving the inner member, the lower end of the bushing being flanged outward and secured against the lower end of the outer member, dots struck inward from the outer member to lock the bushing in said member, said bushing having a plurality of longitudinal slots, said slots being closed at both ends and being located inside the outer member and being concealed thereby, the upper end of said inner member having a cap of large enough diameter to engage the bushing as a stop, and having. one or more rounded yieldable detents disposed lower than the cap, and having a spring lock disposed lower than said detents, the disposition of the parts being such that when the stick is extended by pulling the inner member outward until the cap reaches the top of the bushing the spring lock engages the bottom of the bushing, thereby holding the members against relative axial movement, and the detents expand into the slots, thereby holding the members against relative rotation, said dots being received in the upper ends of said slots, and said detents being received in thelower ends of said slots.

3. A telescopic metal umbrella stick for a folding umthe lower end of the outer member and slidably receiving the inner member, the lower end of the bushing being flanged outward and secured against the lower end of the outer member, means to lock the bushing fixedly in said outer member, said bushing having four longitudinal slots distributed therearound, said slots being closed at both ends and being located inside the outer member and being concealed thereby, the upper end of said inner member having a cap of large enough diameter to engage the bushing as a stop, and having two diametrically opposite rounded yieldable detents disposed lower than the cap, and having a spring lock disposed lower than said detents, the disposition of the parts being such that when the stick is extended by pulling the inner member outward until the cap reaches the top of the bushing the spring lock engages the bottom of the bushing, thereby holding the members against relative axial movement, and the detents expand into the slots, thereby holding the members against relative rotation, the lower end of said inner member having an umbrella handle with a rim- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,221,288 Okun Nov. 12, 1940 2,510,597-

Okun June 6, 1950 

